Buster

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Posts by Buster

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  29

  The Best And Worst Accents In The World

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, obviously we english don't qualify on that score as we simply do not have any accent whatsoever.. but i do like the mid to south us accent, it's very warm and hospitable.

  i'm not too keen on the accent of the eastern europeans, it seems harsh and bombastic.

  englishman.

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  Buster

  Hands down, the Argentines have the most beautiful accent I've ever heard. As I understand it, they have a strong influence from the Italians. It sounds like they're singing. I remember an airline pilot ginving instructions over the intercom, first in English then Spanish. If he was telling us that we were about to fly into a mountain, I think the passengers would have just lain their head back and relaxed.

  Runner-up: South Carolina, USA. I'll never forget buying something at a gas station and the pretty little clerk asked me, in a mellifluous lilt, 'Would you like it in a baaaag?' - Yum.
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  33

  Help! Spouse thinks JW religion the most logical

  by bittersweet in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my husband and i were discussing what makes some people become jw's last night.

  i was saying that if i hadn't grown up in it, i would have never been drawn to it at all.

  i'm not a very spiritual person.

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  Buster

  Yup they think they are sooo logical. To me, the most amazing part is how bright (and some are well-educated) many of witnesses are - and they still have this attitude. If they could just pull their heads out of their endless study of those pulp books and get some perspective. It would be most helpful if they would read some articles on false and deceptive logic and maybe even some books on propaganda. If they could just get the perspective to take a fresh look at all that solid spiritual food flushing at them from New York, our job would be done. Of course it is not possible for those that will not see.

  But I like something Simon put out on a thread some time ago. He suggested that one should ask a person just what would the FDS need to do that would break that person's faith.

  1. The odds are pretty good that we have plenty of documentation on just about anything one might say.
  2. If that person feels there is nothing the FDS could do (very possible answer in my opinion) to dissuade hi/her faith, then I would start right there.

  Either way, you get right back to the absurd devotion to a group of men. If it still makes sense to him, you lose.
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  7

  Portland OR XJW Meet-up May 3, 5pm at Portland Brewing - SIDE BENEFITS

  by Deleted in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  afternoon y'all

  1. first round is on me 2.

  20% off restaurant ticket 3. you get to me my loverly wife jill (aka xpi)

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  Buster

  So, may be its time I consider bringing my wife. See ya then.
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  36

  How can 144,000 be a literal number?

  by Pleasuredome in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  how does the wts explain that the sum total of symbolic numbers equals a literal number?

  rev 7:4-8

  logic says that if the sum parts are symbolic, then the total can only be symbolic.

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  Buster

  Rich, of course it is all literal. As long as we take the 144k as literal, then the rest is too. I've been looking for those guys for a while now. I'm looking for:

  • 144,000 perfect (blamless from Rev 14)
  • Jewish (haven't yet figured how the 12 tribes of Rev 7 reconcile to the real 12)
  • Virgin (presumably ugly, poor, social misfits)
  • men (all of 'em gotta be men)
  • with a mark on their foreheads (don't know what that mark is, but if I see 144,000 men with the same mark, I'm goin' with that)
  • singing a song only they know (must be one tough song if no one else can learn it)
  • following a lamb (that'll clinch it for me)

  They should be pretty easy to spot. Anbody seen there guys?
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  101

  Time for a 'bad joke' thread (groan)

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. humour

  .

  how does bob marley like his doughnuts?.

  .. .. "wi jammin"

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  Buster

  Man with no arms, no legs at the front door?

  ... Matt

  =============

  So the Doctor says, "Thermometer, so where's my pen?"
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  11

  Watchtower Study May 4

  by Tyler in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i'm new here so please be gentle.

  i posted this on other x jw forums, and thought i'd post it here as well.

  see what i think of the place.

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  Buster

  Welcome! Seems like you'll fit in just fine.

  I like reading the publications and looking for the kind of stuff you're pointing out. I strongly recommend that xJWs do the same. We all remember that there was some cornerstone publication when we were members. For me, it was the Babylon book - the fact that the Society had that great piece of incredibly deep spiritual interpretation for us was THE proof that they had the truth. I recommend that everyone pick up one of those pubs, and read with a severly critical eye. Look for straw man logic, circular logic, foregone conclusions, and the one you strongly pointed out - the cheap implication.

  These implications are designed for the R&F to read and draw the intended conclusion, in this case it is that the GB are the Apostles of today. But if one pores thru the pubs looking for a basis to those claims, they will find that the pubs are empty fluff - all of them. Remember Freddie pulling out that cheap 'We never exactly said that' excuse about 1975? Take the lesson, if they don't say it clearly, then they aren't saying it - cross it off.

  Another point you hit, is the mind-numbing approach to the material. There are a lot of very intelligent dubbies. So how does the GB get them to swallow the hook, line and sinker? That damnable read-a-paragraph-and-ask-the-quesiton approach does it. It inhibits any overall understanding of the material and never exposes it to the light of critical inspection. Again, just pull out one of those cornerstone pubs and read a chapter and ask yourself about the overall import of the chapter and then go back to see if they really, firmly made that point. You'll see they never make the points to substantiate the basic JW beliefs.

  See you on the board.
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  20

  confused teenage witness

  by smias03 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi everyone, this is my first post.. i have come to this site for almost 2 months but have been too scared to post... don't really know what i'm scared of but i even set up a different hotmail account when i registered... anyway, i'm a 19/f who was raised a jw (baptised a year ago).

  i was homeschooled, and basically had no communication with the "world" even though my father is an unbeliever.

  my parents were divorced last year (unscriptual divorce from my jw mother).. and now i'm living with my dad and have not spoken to my mom, not because i have doubts about the truth (she doesn't know) but because she was a hypocrit and liar through the divorce.

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  Buster

  You won't regret leaving. But you may always miss the friendships you built and resent the Society for getting in between. All these years later, I still think about my best friends growing up and lament that they never got to grow up into the men they should have become.

  You have a wonderful road of self-discovery ahead. And I think you are wrong about the non-witnesses - they are easier to develop true friendships with. Can I make a suggestion? Enroll in a Comunity College. You'll be able to gauge your home-schooling effectiveness, and you'll make a ton of friends. Let some time go by and revisit the teachings that you so fervently believed at one time - you'll be amazed at how they look to you then.

  Welcome!
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  29

  Exposing Watchtower Lies & Errors - Part II

  by AGuest in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  to the household of god, israel, and those that go with them... again, the greatest of peace to you.

  i have been directed to continue, as follows:exposing watchtower lies & errorspart iichrist speaks to the congregationsthe watchtower, may 15, 2003 .

  paragraph 6:today, congregations of jesus true followers have a similar record of good deeds, hard work, endurance.. .

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  Buster

  SJ,

  well-reasoned, a pleasure to read. Of course the basic JW teachings are at the core of their attitude towards charity. Considering all the rotten things that are to befall humanity before the big battle, it would be working against God to try to alleviate the suffering. That reasonaing goes all the way back to Russell. One thing tho:

  and knew that Lot loved God and Christ
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  32

  To those who maybe confused a little!!!! to cheezebrain, minymouse&who RU?

  by elumn8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  minimus and.

  holey cheeses king of the juice!.

  maybe your under developed minds can't comprehend (sorrry- i need to use smaller words) you just don't have the smallest brain to figure out anything of the bible.

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  Buster

  Damn, elumn8 has been elimn8td. Fight over before I could get in.
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  25

  Watchtower's Tarot Message

  by Pleasuredome in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  basic meaning

  basic meaning

  a new sun is rising, and it is, for you, a time of great transformation.

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  Buster

  Rich, excellent topic - and, hello!

  A few weeks ago I did some reading on the WT and occult symbolism in their publications. I approached the reading with a sceptical stance. When done, I came away with the sense that the illustrators have a dark-humored commedian or two among them - probably some underrecognized artist getting some satisfaction by puttin' one over on the old geezers. But I'll say that this person(s) knows a bit about their occultic symbolism.

  It seemed that the book with the largest amount of symbolilsm subliminally inserted into illustrations was the 'Revelation Climax' book. But there are other examples in the 'Live Forever' book:

  page 19: The stolen jewelery is in shapes used in occult (frankly, I didn't believe it myself until I read a comparison of the triangular pendant and a specific occult symbol)

  page 93: The background waterfall is a skull

  There are others in that book. But without some furter explanaiton, they will look like just so much shadow and fabric draping.

  Its the kind of stuff that one can decide not to see. I am certain that some of the symbols I've read about are in the illustrations as a coincidence. But I am equally certain that some are intentional. However, the reading I have done contains little explanation of motive or effect. so again, I think it is an illustrator with a (bad?) sense of humor.

  - Cliff